By vtwin650

Posts 27002

I was just checking out some gaming sites and I've often viewed http://www.vgchartz.com/ for some of their news articles - one thing I noticed today there is the PS3 has closed the gap on the xbox 360 by a few million in the last month or two.

Last time I looked there were about 7.2 million between them, and today they are showing the gap as 5.7 million consoles (35.8 vs 30.1) - I think a fair bit of this can be attributed to FF XIII as there are now nearly 4.5 million ps3's in japan!

I also think it's the first time ever that the combined Xbox and PS totals have shot past the Wii (now 3.2 million behind). Seems like it has been a failry good year all round for all the consoles, considering the economic environment and the number of publishers who have pushed back projects or closed up for good.

Problem Solved

Beta Tester

theres no new xbox coming this year. project natal is coming though, and theyre treating that like a new console launch

I agree with you on that one. I think it'll be 2011 at the absolute earliest, and more likely 2012, before we see a next-gen console from anybody. Although Nintendo may decide to join the current generation in 2010 :P

I really don't sense any great desire for a new console from either gamers or developers. I don't think we've seen the best of either the PS3 or the 360 yet, and it'll probably be the next 1-2 years that we do finally see them really stretch their legs. I do think the quality of multiplatform titles will probably plateau, but the exclusives are what really push any piece of hardware and there's still more to be had there.

So if most gamers don't seem to be in a rush to upgrade, developers are still getting more out of the current hardware, platform holders are happy making money on their existing platforms and publishers never like the arrival of new consoles due to the costs of the transition, there doesn't seem to be much of a case for the arrival of a new generation of consoles for a couple of years yet.

Accepted Solution

Problem Solved

IPityDaFoolYo wrote:hahah good call. no new console in 2010 either :). well apart from OnLive, which looks awesome, although it wont be very good with australias internet speeds.

i think we'll see the new ones, or at least the new xbox, in 2012. if theres to be a new PS3, it has to be released within 6 months or sony will be pulling out of the console business.

Or, they could wait a few years. There will still be multiplats. A new Xbox won't have great games overnight. After a couple of years, Sony then comes along and releases a new console, of which it takes advantage of newer and better technology. The multiplats will then already be at a high standard for the Xbox, and assuming that the devs aren't nutjobs, they'll easily be able to take advantage of a more capable PS3 and the multiplats will be up to par very quickly.

The PS3 is set up to last longer than the 360, which will allow it to have a stronger console than the Xbox counterpart. Will also go down well with the PS3 owners, as they have a console that they still don't need to upgrade as soon.

In other words, the generations of consoles are likely to become awkwardly scattered, with them alternating between having the best tech.

Accepted Solution

Problem Solved

Award Winner

Let say we hypothetically got a new console 'soon'... I see most of the early titles being next gen coats of paint of games with simultaneous release on 360 and PS3.... just like when the 360 was the new kid in town, and the PS2 and xbox were competing.. Many of the early games were the likes of Burnout Revenge and Need For Speed Most Wanted.

Bear in mind that the main reason the PS3 was delayed by 12 months was due to delays with getting BluRay ready. The actual gaming side of things (graphics, CPU, etc) were pretty much already nailed down by then. Assuming everybody goes with BluRay as their media next time, there shouldn't be any reason for the delay and barring any other hardware development issues I reckon we'll see them launching pretty much simultaneously. Probably in 2012.

Accepted Solution

Problem Solved

It was 4 years between the xbox (Nov 2001) and the xbox 360 (Nov 2005).

If there is no new Xbox by Nov 2010 that would mean they have passed 5 years with the current console. The speculation of a 2012 release of a new MS console would mean 7 years on the current hardware.

Given the Microsoft strategy of discontinuing previous consoles when releasing a new one, and Sony's strategy of maintaining previous tech for around 3 years into the life of the next console (and assuming the touted 10 year life span of the PS3), I wouldn't be surprised to see the next generation releases from both companies arrive at the same time.

Accepted Solution

Problem Solved

IPityDaFoolYo wrote:far out 360s are getting cheap - $199 for an arcade from like kmart atm! any serious video game fan who doesnt have one really has no excuse now. for the price of 2 games you can open up a huge back catalogue of awesome exclusives, better multiplatform games, and all the upcoming exclusives.

Its probably a christmas or stock clearance promotion .

I agree its a great deal but the RRP is still $299 for an arcade.

And I guess the excuse could be ...well I could just buy another 2 games :D

Accepted Solution

Problem Solved

I still think the Xbox 360 will beat the PS3 this generation, but the Wii will always win. Honestly there's no difference between the two consoles, that's why I don't get why people whinge so much over which is better. The real winners are the people who own both :P No more exclusives.

Accepted Solution

Problem Solved

Maybe there both waiting for each other? As soon as MS or Sony announce a new console the other will follow suit allmost instantly. Im still content with my PS3 and I dont really want to have to fork out another $1000 for a console any time soon.

Lets just hope Apple dont jump on the console bandwagon any time soon.

Accepted Solution

Problem Solved

I really doubt Apple will, but I hope they do. They usually have great hardware, plus it's yet another competitor which may finally make initial hardware and software prices drop. Although since Apple products are always expensive, it may be the opposite :Lol:

Accepted Solution

Problem Solved

I very much doubt Apple will jump in, because Apple have never been ones for fitting in with everyone else, plus they're self-sustaining and independent. Apple likes exclusive programs, exclusive games, exclusive tech, exclusive developers making it all. They're the ones setting the trend and the agenda, so I doubt they'll try and fit in to the console market. Multiplatforms are just as important to a console as its exclusives, they have to be able to allow third-party developers to put Madden or Call of Duty or Burnout on an Apple machine like everyone else. There's also the fact too that any Apple machine will be the most expensive, and given how the PS3 did before the price drop it's clear to see the most expensive console isn't what everybody wants.

I think everyone should have a read through the IGN Aus article on why they don't want the next-gen yet http://au.xbox360.ign.com/articles/105/1050039p1.html it's so true. This is basically the first generation ever where just about anything is possible... be it from crisp animations to multiple NPC's performing different actions on-screen at the same time, developers with high production costs don't seem to be as limited as they were with the last-gen hardware, and it's helped through firmware updates and developer tools.

There was something else too that was present before the 360 came out that isn't here now - the general consensus that it's time to move on. Developers like Polyphony came out and said Gran Turismo 4 was about as good as it was going to get, graphical improvements on old consoles were getting marginal all the time, and people were seeing things in other areas of technology that could theoretically work with games i.e. High Definition, wireless, better internet access, compatibility with USB and Portable devices, compatibility with computers and internet browsers, HDD's and the list goes on. This gave momentum for the next-generation, and now that it's here people aren't exactly sure what's to come next.

Aside from graphical power, the real limitation this gen as far as I can see is not being able to run heavy-action games in 1080p, and that's down to processing power. Being able to run something like Modern Warfare 2 or Uncharted 2 in 1080p native resolution would be the next step up graphically, but unless you're playing games on a 1080p TV and you're a picture connoiseur you'd have a hard time noticing.

I don't think Sony and Microsoft need worry about people getting bored of this generation before 2012, especially with motion controls and 3D gaming keeping people occupied. As long as games continue to evolve at a high level, both companies may as well get the most bang for their buck that they can.

I lol'd at the first reply " Theres an obvious answer for this. 40 million sold because 20 million red ringed. " - read the story first before commenting tho.

To go with their big address at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier today, Microsoft released some statistics on Xbox Live and the Xbox 360’s install base.

To date, around 39 million Xbox 360 consoles have been sold worldwide, while there are 20 million people on Xbox Live (no disclosure was made on how many are Gold subscribers). Odd, you would have thought the ratio on that would be much higher considering Xbox Live is one of the console’s main drawcards.

As for those Xbox Live users, 10 million have used non-gaming applications like Twitter, Facebook and Netflix. Only half? Again, would have expected it to be a little higher.

Rounding out the numbers was news that 500 million Xbox 360 games have been sold since the console’s launch. That’s nearly 13 per console. Not bad.

also my emphasis on '20 million people on xbox live' , that's right, not 20 million consoles, people. I don't own one so I don't know, but isn't it entirely possible you could have multiple 'people' on one console, ie more than one XBL account?

If Microsoft say theyve sold 39 million consoles, we have to assume theyve sold 39 million consoles. its the same as sony saying they sold 3.8 million over december - theyre no more 'trustworthy' than microsoft to give figures for actual sold consoles instead of consoles shipped, so you take it for what it is - PR speak, but more official of a 'consoles sold' number than any other source.

yes you can have more than one XBL account per console, but whats that got to do with anything? its still a person on Live.....

just be glad Microsoft dont spout off stupid things like sonys 'we have 33 million users on PSN' when i doubt that even 10% of regular users on here have less than 2 accounts, and theyre all included in that 33 million. last time i counted i had made about 18 PSN accounts, and every single one of them was counted by sony.